Quantitative Wisdom: A course on quantitative reasoning from a Christian perspective of wisdom

In the first part of this worksheet, we will consider what people from history have said about math, and we try to consider math from our own Christian perspective.

The following statements have been made during the past 4,000 years. They suggest possible answers to the question of why we should study math. Most are by famous and influential people. As you read each one, fill in the first column of the table linked below, “What reason for studying math does this suggest?” These quotes are rich and many good things could be said about them, so aim for one good point for each. You will work in groups to fill in the rest of each row; we’ve done one as an example. Note the column “Is this a good reason?” Some quotes provide reasons that are partly good and partly bad.

“Accurate reckoning. The entrance into the knowledge of all existing things and all obscure secrets.”

―Introduction to the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, written in Egypt around 1850 B.C.

“As a matter of fact, I admit that I don’t know why mice and frogs, or flies and worms were created; yet I see that all things are beautiful according to their types, even though because of our sins many of them seem to be against us. Indeed, I cannot think of the body and members of any animal, in which I fail to find that measures and numbers and order pertain to the unity of agreement. Where all these come from, I don’t understand, unless from the highest measure and number and order, which dwell in the immutable and eternal sublimity of God Himself...”

―St. Augustine, North Africa, c. 400 AD De Genesi Contra Manichaeos, I

“In all those transactions which relate to worldly… (or) religious affairs, calculation is of use. In the science of love, in the science of wealth, in music and in the drama, in the art of cooking, and similarly in medicine and in things like the knowledge of architecture; in prose, in poetics and poetry, in logic and grammar and such other things,...the science of computation is held in high esteem. In relation to the movements of the sun and other heavenly bodies, in connection with eclipses and conjunction of the planets…it is utilized. The number, the diameter, and the perimeter of islands, oceans, and mountains; the extensive dimensions of the rows of habitations and halls belonging to the inhabitants of the world…all of these are made out by means of computation.”

―Mahavira’s (mah-hah-VEE-rah) Ganitasarasangraha, India, 9th century A.D.

“Whatever way [the geometer] may go, through exercise will he be lifted from the physical to the divine teachings, which are little accessible because of the difficulty to understand their meaning…and because of the circumstance that not everybody is able to have a conception of them, especially not the one who turns away from the art of demonstration.”

―Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (al bee-ROO-nee), Uzbekistan, c. 1030 A.D.

Preface to the Book on Finding the Chords in the Circle

“Now the science of mathematics is very important. This book ...therefore will be of great benefit to the people of the world. The knowledge for investigation, the development of intellectual power, the way of controlling the kingdom and of ruling even the whole world, can be obtained by those who are able to make good use of this book. Ought not those who have great desire to be learned take this with them and study it with great care?”

―Zhu Shijie (JOO shoor-jieh), China, 1303. The introduction to Precious Mirror of the Four Elements

“Geometry, being part of the divine mind from time immemorial, from before the origin of things, being God Himself (for what is in God that is not God himself?), has supplied God with the models for the creation of the world.”

―Johannes Kepler, 1619. The Harmony of the World

“Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe, which stands continually open to our gaze. But the book cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and read the letters in which it is composed. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters triangles, circles, and other geometric figures with out which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it; without these, one wanders about in a dark labyrinth.”

―Galileo Galilei, 1623. II Saggiatore

“The long chains of simple and easy reasonings by means of which geometers are accustomed to reach the conclusions of their most difficult demonstrations led me to imagine that all things, to the knowledge of which man is competent, are mutually connected in the same way, and that there is nothing so far removed from us as to be beyond our reach, or so hidden that we cannot discover it, providing only that we abstain from accepting the false for the true, and always preserve in our thoughts the order necessary for the deduction of one truth from another.”

―Rene Descartes (day-KART), France, 1637. Discourse on Method

“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty—a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of paintings or music, yet sublimely pure and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show. The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as in poetry.”

―Bertrand Russell, England, 1967. The Study of Mathematics: Philosophical Essays

“...the most urgest social issue affeting poor people and people of color is economic access. In today's world, economic access and full citizenship depend crucially on math and science literacy. I believe that the absence of math literacy in urban and rural communities throughout this country is an issue as urgent as the lack of registered Black voters in Mississippi was in 1961.”

―Robert P Moses, United States, 2001. Radical Equations: Math Literacy and Civil Rights

“The 1999 Jobs Rated Almanac by Les Krantz ranked 250 jobs based on salary, work environment, security, stress level, physical demands, and outlook. The top five jobs were all in mathematics or computer science:

• Website manager

• Actuary

• Computer Systems Analyst

• Software engineer

• Mathematician

In fact, 9 of the top 10 jobs in the list were math or computer related!”

―The website of a college mathematics department, United States, 2005

“You don't pass math, you don't graduate.”

―A high school principle, timeless

Now that we have looked at what several key thinkers have said, let’s look at what God says. The Bible uses numbers frequently, but does not speak directly about mathematics. Nevertheless, we can take several statements the Bible makes about God’s plans and purposes and apply them to the study of math. After each quote, summarize its main ideas in your own words and apply them to the study of math.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth”

―Genesis 1:27–28

“Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.”

“By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.”

―Proverbs 3:13–20

“He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

―Colossians 1:15–17

Now we'll work together on a couple quantitative reasoning problems to give you a flavor of the course.

A woman writes the following question to Ask Marilyn, a newspaper help columnist:⁴

Nine members of our family will be renting a vacation property. The total rental fee is $3600 for ten days. People will be staying for a varying number of days. I say the first step in figuring how much each person will owe for his or her share is to divide the fee by nine. My husband says we should start by dividing the fee by ten–the number of days we have the rental. Who is right?

The information in this statement is called quantitative. Quantitative information uses concepts about quantity or number. This can be specific numbers or a pattern based on numerical relationships such as doubling.

You hear and see statements using quantitative information every day. People use these statements as evidence to convince you to do things like

• vote a certain way

• donate or give money to a cause

• understand a health risk

You often do not know whether these statements are true. You may not be able to locate the information, but you can start by asking if the statement is reasonable. This means to ask if the statements make sense. You will be asked if information is reasonable throughout this course. This lesson will help you understand what is meant by this question.